January 2012
The Russian Air Force is testing and will soon deploy an advanced tactical air-to-air missile that will greatly enhance its operational effectiveness, the service's commander Col Gen Alexander Zelin said on Tuesday. The missile will be carried by MiG-31BM Foxhound supersonic interceptors/fighters and will subsequently be used by other ...
Category: MiG News
Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer started test flights of its third series-produced Su-35S Flanker-E multirole fighter on Tuesday, the company said. The aircraft took off from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur airfield in Russia’s Far East, spending more than two hours in the air testing propulsion and control systems. The Su-35 Flanker-E superiority fighter is powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring. It can effectively engage several air targets simultaneously using both guided ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The Russian Air Force has completed flight tests of the modernized Sukhoi Su-25UBM ground attack-trainer aircraft, Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said on Tuesday. “Air Force commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin signed off on the completion of flight tests for the Su-25UBM at the end of December 2011,” Drik said. The Su-25UBM is a heavily modernized variant of the Su-25 capable of training and strike missions, and is fitted with ...
Category: Russian Aviation
Indonesia has signed a $470 million contract with Russia to buy six Sukhoi Su-30MK2 jet fighters for the Indonesian Air Force, The Jakarta Post daily has reported. The deal was confirmed by Russian defense-industry and diplomatic sources, but the Sukhoi aircraft maker and arms exporter Rosoboronexport declined to comment. Deliveries will start after 2013. Indonesian Deputy Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said his office had handed over the contract to ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The Pentagon is gearing up to restructure Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program for a third time in three years, sources said, with production of more than 120 more planes to be postponed to save money and allow more time for development. The latest changes should save the Pentagon about $15 billion from fiscal 2013 through 2017 and will be part of the fiscal 2013 budget plan to be ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
The Russian Air Force will receive over 60 modernized MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor aircraft by 2020, the Defense Ministry said. A modernization contract was signed by the ministry and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation in December last year. “We are planning to upgrade more than 60 MiG-31 interceptors to the MiG-31BM version by 2020,” Air Force spokesman Vladimir Drik said last week. Relatively few MiG-31s have been modernized to the MiG-31BM version ...
Category: MiG News
